


Can You See Me Now?

by semi_slaughtomatic



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Facetime, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Late Night Conversations, Lbscexchange, Lbscexchange2020, Luka talks and sings and Marinette freaks out so all in all a normal day in the Lukanette world, Tension so thick you can cut it with a knife and put it on a sandwich, Texting, but super sweet, they are in love and stupid!, will they/won't they
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-19 06:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22706824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/semi_slaughtomatic/pseuds/semi_slaughtomatic
Summary: Late night comfort leads to late night conversations leads to realizing feelings leads to realizing something that they've both wanted, but are too afraid to ask for.
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40
Collections: Lovebugs and Snake Charmers





	1. Sleepless in the Seine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thedarkwhiteangel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedarkwhiteangel/gifts).



_Ping!_

Luka rolls out of slumber, squinting against the bright light of his phone that’s illuminating his corner of the bedroom. Of all the nights to forget to turn his phone silent, this was probably one time he was regretting the most. His one hand grumbles around to see who the hell is bugging him this late, while the other hand desperately tries to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

_‘Just when I finally frickin’ fell asleep too. I swear to god if it’s Juleka texting me in the middle of the night to make up an excuse for her staying at Rose’s that she doesn’t even need, I’m gonna-’_

M: Hey...are you up?

 _Oh, shit._ All of the annoyance in Luka disperses and is replaced by a warmth at seeing his muse’s name on his screen. He has to spell check himself 3 times before he gets his reply sent, with how quickly his fingers fumble to type as fast as his brain is moving.

L: I don’t sleep much. What’s up?

M: Oh gosh, your insomnia?

M: I’m so sorry, I should’ve remembered!

M: I shouldn’t have bothered you...

Luka smacks the palm of his hand onto his forehead, curse his poor wording. 

L: No, I’m sorry. I said that badly. I’m always happy to hear from you, you’re never a bother.

He bit his lip. With everything that’s been going on with her the past couple of months, Marinette hitting him up at this hour (no matter how much he’s thrilled to be talking to her) can’t be a good thing. 

L: But I don’t think you’re chatting me up at this hour just to say hello.

L: Your song seems sad right now.

The little ellipses fade in and out as he holds his breath, waiting, which means she definitely has a lot to say and is overthinking how much is too much to spew at once. 

M: Yeah, I guess you could say that.

L: It’s the kind of sad where your head’s heavy with thought from the weight on your shoulders, huh?

M: Like that look you get in your eyes sometimes when you think no one’s paying attention?

Clever girl. It should be a bruise on his ego, considering how much time and effort and skill he’s put into putting his problems into a little box to deal with alone later, but he’s smiling none the less, just because it’s her exposing him for who he is.

L: Touche, love.

M: I see you.

That one makes him shudder a bit. It may be a text, but there’s a seriousness there that makes his breath hitch. 

There’s been a very subtle shift in her energy as of recent, one that Luka’s been trying to convince himself is wishful thinking and pertinently ignoring the distinct, growing resonance between their hearts’ songs.

It’s been a challenge, ever since _that_ day.

Ever since the day that Marinette cracked and fell into his arms.

Ever since she threw her head back and tapped her toes in a quiet resolution, sitting along the banks of the Seine that same day.

Ever since she kissed his cheek ( _again)_ when he and walked her home after everyone decided to carry on their evenings separately, without any clue how heavy a heart their classmate, their leader, their friend carried with her. 

Ever since they started hanging out more and the flow of heavy conversation and encouragement between them became almost effortless.

Ever since that day, Luka’s been hard pressed to think about anything else, but he does because it’s Marinette and he doesn’t want to make things weird unless she wants to first because he respects and cares and like-loves her too much to want to do otherwise.

But right now, it’s half past whatever god-awful time in the early morning and he’s too tired to reign in his feelings and she deserves to know how much she’s cared about. 

So all he says is:

L: I see you too <3

And it’s enough.

He waits a few minutes, allowing Marinette space to process. He’s idly scrolling through some notifications he missed while he attempted to sleep, when another _ping!_ rings out and her message rolls down the top portion of his phone screen.

M: Can we talk?

L: We are talking :p

M: No you dork

M: Ugh

M: Hold on

Suddenly, Luka’s screen turns from white to black; Marinette’s silhouette is blurred out behind her contact name as FaceTime prompts him to accept or decline the call.

He promptly drops the phone somewhere in the depths of his comforter, because what else do you do when a pretty girl calls you in the middle of the night?

_Oh right, you answer it, dummy._

He smacks his hand to his forehead and drags it down his face, his neck, and rests it on his rapidly beating heart. And then he realizes, oh wait, that’s skin touching skin and Luka gets a good bout of cardio in rushing out of bed to his hamper, rifling through the pile of clothes to find a shirt to put on. Modesty and all that (teenager hormones suck).

He plops himself back into bed, resting against the backboard and runs a hand through his hair for good measure while the other digs under the wrinkles of his covers to find his phone so he can answer it, finally.

His breath catches in his throat as Marinette’s sweet, sleepy face fills the phone screen, even if she’s barely illuminated by the backlight of their call; her hair is cascading around her face, sticking outwards from the static of her sheets. Her eyes are bright, although slightly puffy, but they’re still the prettiest ones he’s ever seen.

He can’t help but smile. “Hi.”

“Hi, Luka.” she croaks out, exhaustion seeping from her voice. “I’m sorry to have bugged you-”

“It’s okay, thought I was dreaming for a second,” he laughs out. It’s too dark to see her blushing on the other side of the screen, but he knows it’s there. He can’t help but throw out a line every once in a while to her, because it’s never a line with him: it’s true. 

She’s smiling, so he counts it as a win.

There’s a rustling coming from Marinette’s end; he can see the bedding fabric move with what he assumes is the clenching and unclenching of her hand that’s not holding her cell, an anxious habit he’s noticed she’s developed recently when she doesn’t have her sketchbook on her.

He asks, “What’s hurting you?”, because sometimes, Marinette needs to know that he knows what she’s thinking so she feels a little less alone.

“It’s not really anything it’s just...everything? Does that even makes sense, ughhh-”

“No, no, it makes perfect sense.” Luka pauses, gathering his thoughts. He needs to put this delicately, for her sake. “I know there’s a lot going on with you, more than is even normal for regular teenager drama...and I know there’s some stuff that you can’t really tell me about.

She bites her lips, guilt plastered on her face, her body tense. “I want to, Luka, you really have no idea, you’re the one of the only people I feel safe with, I just-I-I just-”

“Hey, hey, Marinette, it’s okay.” he reassures. “The fact that you trust me so much to talk to me the way you do, it’s an honour, really.”

“Really?”

“Really.” She sniffles a little, but he can see her body relax back into her sheets. “It’s an honour to be in a little piece of your heart."

“And I know things are hard right now. Being our age sucks and you’re class president and you’ve got a broken heart you’re trying to put back together and it’s like...” Luka’s rambling and he knows it and it’s frustrating him to no end. Music is always easier, the words always come when he can accompany them with chords and notes. “Dammit, I wish it wasn’t so late so I could just play it for you.”

“It’s okay, Luka. I know you get it, that’s why I called you,” Marinette diverts her gaze from his, her voice thick, but strong, even as she whispers. “It’s why I always call you.”

It’s silent for a moment, the air heavy with that something in the space between his bedroom and hers. It’s been happening far too often lately and Luka’s brain to mouth filter isn’t working as well as usual because he finds himself about to ask her-

“You know, my heart was never broken.”

Luka asks, “No?", not so much stunned as he is grateful that they’re about to have on of their talks.

“Mnmn. I don’t think so. It’s um...it’s more like it fell out of rhythm.”

He knows his expression must be flabbergasted right now; she’s speaking his language and that energy shift is suddenly at the forefront of his mind, ringing in his ears. Marinette’s eyes are locked into his and there’s something intense about her gaze, far too deep for him to get a reading on.

He swallows as she continues. “I wasn’t always the best at following my own beat. With the things I was passionate about, definitely. But with people, I used to not be as steady as I wanted. And then I found a song that got stuck in my head, so I tried to match up with that beat,” Marinette winces, visibly ashamed of herself even though love is never something to be ashamed of. Luka sends her a sympathetic smile. 

“But, it wasn’t in sync. Just the same sour note playing over and over again that I couldn’t make harmonize with mine. And in the process, I forgot the words to my own song, and now I’m just trying to find what that ever even was. Or maybe...what my new song is.”

 _That_ makes Luka smile. “Well, that’s fair. That’s what growing up is supposed to be, learning how to follow your heart and what the hell it’s even wants anyways.” They both laugh at that before he continues. “I think it’s okay to still like an old song, but you’re not the same person you were before. It’s okay to write a new one too. And then one day maybe you’ll get tired of that song and come up with a new bridge or something completely different, but the key is still the same. But I’m sure whatever tune you end up with, it’ll be great.”

“Very true.” Marinette’s lips turn upwards into a playful smirk. “Your age is showing, Couffaine.”

God, she’s been spending too much time gossiping with his baby sister. Luckily, Luka knows how to roll with the friendly banter (and maybe flirting, maybe). “I’m a wise old sage, what can I say?”

“Nothing...but you can sing for me.”

“Marinetteeeee-” Of course, she couldn’t make it easy on him.

“Oh c’mon, Luka!” Marinette exclaims. “You know I won’t make you, but your music just always makes me feel better.” 

“I don’t even sing my own music, ‘Nette, you know that!” 

She’s sticking her bottom lip out in a pout and batting her lashes at him and it’s absolutely not adorable at all, not even a little bit.

Well, maybe a little. He’s really a goner, isn’t he?

“Fine, just because it’s you. You should use those things for good instead of evil, ya’ know,” he chastises, referring to the bluebells that are too big and pretty for anyone’s own good. She sticks her tongue out in at him in good faith. “Any requests?”

Marinette backs further into her pillows, cozying up into the warmth of her blankets. “I’ll like whatever you pick.”

Luka contemplates for a moment, then decides. He keeps his eyes closed because no matter how much Marinette means to him he still gets embarrassed playing anything but an instrument in front of people, even if its his favourite person. 

He keep his voice low and steady, but still full of as much emotion as he gives when he’s got his baby in his hands. _“All around her people stare as she slowly falls apart picking up pieces of her clumsy little heart. It's hard to know where you're going when you don't know where to start, but that's just life and that's the hardest part, that's the hardest part,”_

Luka finishes the rest of the song, one that he put on a playlist and given to her not too long after that day to help her feel a little less alone, the same way that music always does for him. 

When he stops and looks back to the screen, he’s met with the site of Marinette’s mouth rounded to an _‘o’_ , and he swears that her eyes are shining. 

“You’re really amazing, Luka,” she breathes out in awe. 

That was...not what he was expecting.

Which, she must have known because in an instant because she tries to hide the growing redness of her face behind her hand that’s not holding the phone. The backlight from her screen does little to hid the colour in her face that’s he can feel himself mirroring as well. 

Marinette mumbles out behind her hand. “Sorrysorrysorry I didn’t mean that--dang it, I mean, I did mean that, just not the way I said it. I just meant that I...everything feels easier around you.”

She takes a breath, steadying herself so that she can look at him straight on. She speaks earnestly and Luka’s pretty sure he might still be asleep. “I wish I was better at telling you how much you mean to me, Luka.”

And Luka can’t really help but just stare at her and he wishes like hell he could be selfish and have her there with him so he can tuck her close and let his love radiate out from him unashamed. 

Marinette deserves more than what he has to offer, but if it’s good for her, then it’s good for him too, so Luka settles for maybe letting his emotions get the best of him and offers his muse the kind of mushy smile that seeps out of him every time he ends up thinking about her.

“It’s okay, Marinette. You do everything in such a ‘you’ way. It’s my favorite things about you and that’s more than enough for me.” 

A squeaky yawn escapes her lips.

“You should get some rest, love. You had a long night.”

“Mmn,” Marinette rubs at her eyes that have started drooping close from exhaustion. “You made it better though. Thank you again for letting me turn you into a sleepless zombie for the millionth time.”

“Eh, I’m pretty much a zombie anyways, it matches my insomniac lifestyle.”

“I thought that was Juleka’s thing?” she’s teasing him now and he loves it.

“Don’t let her hear you say that, she’ll cut out your tongue and mush it up into fertilizer for Rose’s flowers,” he jokes back at her, even though it’s only half a joke; Juleka is scary when she’s mad. “You should know by now, she’s got the whole broody vampire goth thing going on.”

That gets her to really smile and Luka’s pretty sure that image is going to be burned into his mind forever. He lets the giggles subside, then says, “Sleep, Marinette.”

“Only if you do too, you need it more than I do.”

He bites his lip for a second, then says screw it, and brings his pinky to his lip, giving it a light kiss before sucking in a breath and pressing the finger to his phone screen in a promise.

Marinette stares at him, eyes wide and searching, then proceeds to do the same.

They let the gesture linger longer than what’s probably deemed appropriate between just friends. Their entire relationship crossed the line between friends and something else a long while ago. It works for them, and that’s what matters most to him. 

“Goodnight, Marinette.”

“Night, Luka.”

Luka ends the call and throws the phone to the end of his bed before he has the chance to say something heavier than what either of them can handle tonight. He lets out a heavy breath he didn’t even realize he was holding and flips onto his stomach, crossing his arms and laying his head in the crook of them. He doesn’t want to know what time it is, but it’s definitely time for nice, uninterrupted sleep. 

_‘“You’re really amazing, Luka.”’_

If he falls asleep, playing Marinette’s words over, and over, and over, again in his head to help lull him off, well, that’s his business.

\---


	2. Clumsy Little Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How is Marinette supposed to sleep or function as a human being after realizing she's not content with the whole "Just Friends" thing her and Luka have going on after that conversation?

Chap 2

When she hangs up the phone, Marinette’s heart is pounding. 

“Do you feel any better, Marinette?” Tikki’s sweet voice coos in her ear as her kwami cuddles against her cheek. There’s warmth radiating from the tiny god that seeps into Marinette’s skin and into her bloodstream; she’s not really sure if Tikki is giving her an extra dose of magick to make her feel better or if she was actually that upset that any little touch would soothe her this much. 

There’s something in her chest, gnawing at her and she knows that she needs to say something-

-yet all she can think about is Luka’s blue blue eyes staring at her through the phone screen digging into her soul and settling there, filling in the gaps that she hasn’t 100% been able to get to work on yet. 

Then again, she’s not really sure those spaces were meant for her.

A person is their own being that shapes their own experiences, and their own heart. 

But Marinette’s not sure she’d be the same as she was now if her maman and papa weren’t there to always make her feel at home. She knows she certainly wouldn’t have taken the first step towards confidence in herself if Alya hadn’t come into her life and shown her that she could be brave. If Chat and Tikki hadn’t shown her kindness and camaraderie after her moment of cowardice, Marinette has to wonder if she’d really be as good of a Ladybug as she is now.

She wonders if she would have had as much strength to build herself back up if it hadn’t been for Luka being the sail on her ship, guiding her back home. It doesn’t take much from him to make Marinette feel like she’s something special: a light touch on her shoulder when she’s too in her head, a serenade when the world gets to be too much...

A glance through a phone screen, one full of wonder and contentment and, and, something, something that just makes a girl with the weight of a city burdening her recovering heart feel like steady instead of like a storm. 

Marinette’s breath _hitches_. She knows what it is about Luka that gets her heart racing when she thinks about it too much. She’s just been very adamant about not thinking about it because her and Luka have a beautiful thing going with them, even if she catches herself thinking about more.

It always goes back to his eyes.

He looked at her the way she needed to be looked at: not with pity from giving up on Adrien like the girls have been giving her (even though she’s honestly been over it for a few months now), not with wary suspicion as her parents have been doing because her smile hasn’t reached her eyes in a while, no. She’s been getting better each day, but it’s knowing that she will never go back to the way she used to be that seems to have everyone walking on eggshells around her.

She doesn’t want to be same, though; Marinette just wants to be herself, whoever that ends up being. 

But Luka, _Luka_ , sees her just as she is, as Marinette. Just Marinette. That’s all that matters to him, that she is her, in all of her anxiety and excitement and depression and passion and whatever other aspects of herself come to the surface at any given time. 

It’s how he’s seen her since day one and it’s the fact that she feels the exact same way about him, being trusted with his quiet burdens, his joy, his rage, and his love, and that it’s all she could think about when they’d been on the phone together that has her internally screaming like a banshee now.

Marinette meant it when she said that she sees him. And she is so, so, so, _so, so, so screwed_.

“Oh Tikki, I really got myself in deep, didn’t I?”

The kwami giggles, a twinkle of knowing gracing her big eyes as she floats up in front of Marinette. “Maybe! But I think that you’re a pretty good swimmer in this case,”

Marinette groans, pulling the pillow from behind her head to on top of her face. “There’s been too many metaphors tonight, I’m way too tired to be thinking this hard!”

Tikki doesn’t say anything while she’s wallowing in her not so sudden revelation that she has a lot of strong feelings for Luka Couffaine. Marinette manages to breathe- _‘“In...let your breath and every worry fill your stomach...hold it...and exhale. Beautiful, you feel a little bit better now?”’_ -the way he taught her. He’s not even here but he’s snuck his way into the corners of her mind and every day routine so much that she can feel the warmth of his soul with her.

“-nette?” 

Marinette’s whimpering and internal freak-out must’ve been getting pretty bad; she’s not sure how long her kwami’s been calling her name, but thank goodness she has the patience of...well, a god. 

“Can I offer you some advice?” 

“Mhmn,” she mutters behind the fabric of her cushion. 

“Stop thinking so much about it and start acting. That’s what makes you such a great Ladybug!”

Marinette snorts out a laugh, taking the pillow from her face to sit up and hug it to her chest, sending a very sarcastic look towards her kwami. “Tikki, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m the Overthinking Master.”

Her kwami’s big bug eyes roll to the back of her head in frustration, before her tiny hands cup Marinette’s cheeks. “I don’t mean like that, silly! You’ve always been able to think as much as you need to in order to figure out a solution to whatever an akuma throws at you, and then you act on your ideas.

“It’s the same thing in this situation; you’ve never needed anyone to save you, Marinette, but you do know how to save yourself. So please, for your sake, listen to your heart when it comes to Luka. Your thoughts and your emotions are synced together in balance with your feelings for him, so no matter what you decide to do, I know it’ll be the right choice.” 

The little kwami gives her a quick kiss on the forehead, then flies over to the Miracle Box that sits on her vanity and jumps inside; she knows when to give her partner some space to sort through her feelings.

Marinette’s arms wrap tighter around the pillow, heat on her face and her throat tightening with emotion. 

She’s tired of dancing around the obvious thing they have. She’s tired of them pulling away from each other when their touches linger too long, tired of her heart being torn between keeping what they have and reaching out for what she really wants (and what she knows Luka wants too, even if he’s too considerate to say it to her face).

She may have a complicated life and way too many responsibilities for someone her age, but with Luka, the world slows down enough for her to catch her breath and enjoy the moment. 

_‘“It’s an honour to be in a little piece of your heart.”’_

A smile breaks out onto her face, small, but it lightens her heart thinking about his words, the ones that always seem to be exactly what she needs to hear. 

You know, it all seems silly, the dance they’ve been doing, when you put into perspective how integrated into each other’s lives they are, seamless and pure.

There’s no hesitation; that’s when Marinette decides:

She’s going to be brave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is inspired by the song Clumsy Little Heart by Every Avenue, which I've been jamming while writing this fic!
> 
> As an honest side bar: this fic is 90% done; I have an epilogue I wanted to get done in time to have this uploaded for the event, but sadly, I've had some personal IRL stuff happen the past couple of weeks that I needed to deal with, so I didn't have as much time to work on this as much as I wanted to. These 2 chapters complete the story, technically, but the ending I had planned is something that I really don't feel right not including, so I'm hoping to get the last "chapter" uploaded within the next few days! I really appreciate your patience and I hope everyone is able to enjoy these chapters. <3 As always, thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This is my piece for [thedarkwhiteangel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedarkwhiteangel) as part of the Lovebugs and Snake Charmers Secret Admirer Event! My prompt was "He looked at her the way she needed to be looked at" as a hurt/comfort fic! I had a lot of fun with this, thank you for the awesome prompt! This is the longest fic I've written yet and I hope you enjoy! This has been a really fun event to be a part of!
> 
> Chapter title is inspired by Sleepless in Seattle because I am a sucker for wordplay.


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